Chapter 38: Obito’s passionate life (seeking follow-up reading)

Obito looked up at the sky; the black smoke constantly rising from the volcano covered the sky, and combined with the dark grey land, he felt as if he was in a monotonous world of only black and grey.

“So hot, so spicy!” Obito breathed in and out deeply to make his tongue feel a bit better.

Rumble!!!

Suddenly, with a loud bang, an indescribably terrifying molten flame, like a geyser, erupted from the volcano, shooting into the sky.

Scorching black smoke, sky-high flames, dark red magma—the black and grey world now had a dangerous touch of red.

Immediately after, terrifying lava rained down from the sky, engulfing Obito, and his eyes regained clarity.

“Spicy! Spicy! Spicy!” As consciousness returned, the sensation of high temperature gradually diminished, but the spiciness lingering on his tongue still hadn’t disappeared.

However, Obito still didn’t stop eating.

Although it was spicy, it was simply too delicious; he couldn’t control himself.

“High temperature, burning.” Obito couldn’t help but recall the sudden illusion: flames erupting from the earth, and the high-temperature lava that melted him.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The next moment, Obito, who was sticking out his tongue and breathing, directly spewed a crimson flame from his mouth.

Obito was shouting “spicy” while spitting fire, and fanning his tongue with his hand, looking exactly like an acrobat performing a fire-breathing trick.

“Uh oh…” Obito was a bit bewildered.

“Stop the Chakra output,” Muzuki said calmly.

Only then did Obito realize that he had somehow started using Chakra, so he cut off the Chakra supply, and the flame disappeared.

“While the state hasn’t disappeared, hurry up and train,” Muzuki said, taking out a palm-sized ice cube and placing it in Obito’s hand.

“Remember that feeling just now: high temperature and burning,” Muzuki reminded him.

Recalling Obito’s dazed expression just now, Muzuki roughly guessed something.

“I didn’t expect that the skill cuisine carrying an illusion could have such an effect,” Muzuki thought with some surprise.

“It seems I’ll have to make some spicier dishes for Obito recently,” Muzuki secretly thought.

A simple home-cooked stir-fry with chili had such an effect; if Obito ate Mapo Tofu every day, wouldn’t his progress be incredibly fast?

“Muzuki-sensei, look!” Obito excitedly called out to Muzuki, looking at the rapidly melting ice cube in his hand.

Muzuki nodded slightly after seeing it; the palm-sized ice cube had shrunk by a size in just one minute.

“Very good, keep it up, don’t forget this feeling,” Muzuki affirmed with a nod, also not forgetting to remind Obito not to get carried away.

“Mhm, mhm!” Obito nodded quickly, concentrating intently on the ice cube, continuously releasing Chakra.

He was very excited about his significant progress.

Sometimes, it’s hard to endure tedious and boring training because there’s no constant feedback.

If he could make such progress every time he trained, Obito felt he might also become a training fanatic.

“Obito, you don’t dislike spicy food, do you?” Muzuki suddenly asked with a smile.

“Spicy? If it can be as delicious as that just now, a little spicy is fine,” Obito said, instinctively licking his lips, reminiscing about the delicious meal he had just eaten.

It was the first time he had eaten such a delicious stir-fry; although the chili was a bit spicy, it was truly delicious.

“Don’t worry, I guarantee it’ll be delicious,” Muzuki patted Obito’s shoulder, “You said it yourself.”

Obito, who was diligently melting the ice cube, suddenly had a bad premonition.

Could it be, could it be that…

Even though he was holding an ice cube, Obito couldn’t help but feel a chill down his spine.

“Muzuki-sensei, actually, I really like fried rice too,” Obito tried to salvage the situation.

“Hmm, chili fried rice, right? I’ll make it for you,” Muzuki showed a gentle smile.

“Can chili fried rice be made without chili?” Obito asked with pleading eyes.

He had a very bad memory; that one time he ate something extremely spicy, and then he knew what “spicy at both ends” meant.

If he had to eat Muzuki’s “a little spicy” dishes every day, Obito was afraid he wouldn’t be able to leave the bathroom once he entered.

“Chili fried rice without fried rice? I didn’t realize your taste was so strong; it’s not impossible,” Muzuki selectively ignored him.

Hearing Muzuki’s words, Obito’s vision went black, his legs went weak, and he nearly fainted on the spot.

He looked to Shisui for help; Shisui, who had just finished eating and was still savoring the taste, noticed Obito’s gaze and immediately looked up at the sky, pretending not to see him.

It wasn’t that Uchiha Shisui disregarded clan ties, but rather that this matter was difficult to get involved in.

After all, Obito’s training efficiency did improve after eating, so eating spicy food might have a miraculous effect on training Fire Release Nature Transformation.

Moreover, Obito himself said it was delicious, and he was eating like crazy while shouting about the spice just now.

Of course, the main reason was that he knew the result of speaking up would be that he and Obito would eat it together.

While Shisui didn’t mind spicy food, he didn’t want to eat it every day; he didn’t have the need to rapidly improve his Nature Transformation.

Obito looked towards Might Guy.

Might Guy, noticing Obito’s gaze, smiled and gave Obito a thumbs-up, saying, “Fiery youth should eat more spicy food!”

Obito: …

At this moment, his hands were cold, but his heart was even colder; where was the family brotherhood, where was the camaraderie of the master’s sect? At a crucial moment, not a single one could be relied upon!

Obito burst out Chakra, melting all the ice in his hand in one go, and straightened his goggles with his hand.

“Sensei, I think it’s too much trouble for you to make three separate dishes; it would be much easier to just make one large dish and divide it into three portions for us,” Obito said, feigning concern for Muzuki.

Since it was like this, then no one would have an easy time; if they were going to suffer, they’d suffer together.

“Sounds good,” Muzuki showed a thoughtful expression.

Of course, he knew what Obito was thinking, but Muzuki still chose an answer that would provide entertainment.

Shisui’s normally calm expression couldn’t be maintained; he hadn’t expected this clan brother, who usually seemed a bit foolish, to have such quick wit in dragging others down with him.

“Fiery youth means everyone should eat spicy food together!” Might Guy laughed loudly.

“So he really thought that,” Obito and Shisui thought speechlessly.

Muzuki thought about it and felt that it wasn’t a bad idea; anyway, the taste was guaranteed, Obito and Shisui both needed to train Fire Release, and Might Guy was also willing to eat it.

From that day on, Obito, Shisui, and Might Guy began a physically fiery life.

“So spicy, so delicious!” Obito, tearing up from the spice, still couldn’t stop devouring the Mapo Tofu in his bento box.

“So spicy! Delicious!” Might Guy also ate the Mapo Tofu with tears streaming down his face; the difference was that Might Guy was moved, not crying from the spice.

Shisui, who was constantly exhaling due to the spice, quietly distanced himself a little from the two.

The three of them went to the bathroom together, walked in standing up, and came out together bent over, leaning on the wall.

At the Ninja Academy, Rin often saw Obito inexplicably sticking his butt out, so she asked worriedly:

“Obito, are you feeling unwell?”

Obito showed a melancholic expression and said, “No, it’s just a tiny side effect brought on by diligent training.”

“Rin, this time you definitely won’t believe how much my Fire Release has improved; I’m definitely going to defeat Kakashi in this Youth Ninjutsu Competition!” Obito said with full confidence.

One of the reasons he could endure such arduous training was to wash away his previous disgrace, to defeat Kakashi in front of Rin, and take first place.

“But Kakashi probably won’t sign up, right? He’s already a Chunin; this competition is usually only for Ninja Academy students like us,” Rin Nohara said.

She believed that Obito had indeed trained hard and made great progress in strength, but why would Kakashi, who was already a Ninja, participate in such a civilian competition?

“Huh?” Obito was stunned; he had just assumed Kakashi would participate.